To Love A Demon
by 2many2chooseJUST1
Summary: A past long forgotten could end up bringing some raw emotions when Nao Hasegawa remembers her childhood friend and the day he became like the sand demon sealed within.  Goes through entire anime . GaaraxOC We all know he needs a happy ending !
1. Chapter 1: Dreaming of the Past

To Love A Demon

2many2chooseJUST1: I do NOT own Naruto or any characters therein. Only Nao is mine.

**Chapter 1: Dreaming of the Past**

"_Come Nao, we need to leave now…quickly!" said a woman with beautiful chocolate brown hair and light blue eyes to her daughter. The child known as Nao nodded silently, grabbing her mother's hand and following her out of the room. _

"_Where are we going mommy?" the girl asked. _

"_We're leaving this place…you're in too much danger here," the mother replied quickly. _

_The girl's mother grabbed something, placing it in a bag, and then went from room to room checking to make sure everything was packed up…Everything that was absolutely necessary, that is. _

"_Momma, I forgot something!" Nao suddenly perked up, her silvery blue eyes widening in remembrance. She yanked her hand out of her mother's grasp, running out of the house towards her favorite spot._

"_Nao! Wait! PLEASE NAO, IT'S DANGEROUS!" her mother called after her. The young child paid no mind to what her mother was saying. She had to do this, she just had to! If she didn't, she would never forgive herself. So she ran to where she thought for sure he might be._

_After 10 minutes of running through town, she finally thought she spotted who she was looking for. A little boy with red hair was sitting up on a roof, crying and holding his chest, it looked like to Nao. _

"_Why is he crying?" she said softly, wondering who it was that made her friend cry. _

_She was about to go up and give him something when all of a sudden, a protective sand shield raised itself behind the boy. She could see him turn around, scared and probably feeling all alone. Nao could only watch terrified as she heard the loud and sickening crunch of bones from above. Fighting with all her might, the girl urged her legs to move. Since she was trained by her father, who was an elite ninja, she ran towards and through the building as quickly as possible to get to the roof top. Once there, she saw a horrific sight. Her best friend was crying, there was blood everywhere, and he looked afraid of what had happened._

_She cried out, running to the boy. He looked up just as she hugged him close to her._

"_Hey, what happened?" she asked softly, praying that he was alright. _

_Suddenly she was shoved off of him, falling backwards, landing on her rump rather roughly. The red haired boy was going towards the body she had just now noticed. _

"_Who are you? What do you want?" he asked, obviously frightened. _

_He pulled the mask off of the ninja she guessed had attacked him. When he pulled the mask off they both gasped, and he started to cry. It was one of his relatives, whom the both of the children thought loved her dear friend. _

_The teary-eyed redhead then screamed. His agonized scream pained Nao to the deepest reaches of her very own heart. As she tried to walk up to the boy, who was kneeling beside the injured person, crying out in despair, a sand burst came out of nowhere and forced her back._

"_NAAAOOOO!" she heard her mother's voice out in the distance. She turned back to the sound of her mother's voice tuning everything else out. _

_Her mother sounded very worried, and Nao knew she had to get back to her soon._

_Nao wanted desperately to hold him, and tell him it wasn't his fault, but she couldn't get her legs to work right. Looking down, she saw that the sand was holding her down. She caught a few words that horrified her tremendously._

"_All these years, you have been watched, and studied…"_

_**They treated him like this…and it was all just an experiment? Like some random experiment performed on lab rats? How could they?**__ Nao fumed, enraged. Treating him like he was a monster? He was just a boy! A scared, frightened boy that was all alone…No friends and his family hated him as much as all the villagers did! It was wrong…They must have known it!_

_Nao couldn't believe her ears…her friend was an experiment and considered a monster, when he was only a scared little kid. How dare they do this to him…_

_The dark haired girl began to cry, trying to tune what he said out…She just couldn't take it anymore…her friend wasn't a monster…Not that she knew of at least. _

_And if he were, it wouldn't have been his fault that he was that way. It was then that she remembered her own past, even if it were a little more recent…A man with a purple rope tying his clothes used one of the most forbidden jutsus on her father. _

_It tortured him to the very most extreme extent and it was so awful that Nao even felt the unbearable pain. _

_She remembered it felt like her whole head was being split in two with a blunt axe, and she was being beaten with a sock full of apples. Her body ached all over for several hours after her father was already dead. Nao didn't think that the pain would ever subside, and she actually passed out. _

_Nao got up, and began backing away when she heard the all too familiar sound of sizzling. _

_**Bad news! Paper bombs! What do I do?**__ Nao thought frantically. _

_She looked around for cover…unfortunately, there was none. The blast came, and she ducked down, preparing for the worst. When there was no end to her own life, she looked up, and saw the boy's sand had protected him, thus protecting her as well, considering she was behind him. _

"_Are you okay?" she asked quietly. _

_No response. She could hear him sobbing, and she wanted more than anything to be able to comfort him. _

_As she walked up to him, she reached her hand out, making her wrist tinkle slightly in doing so. _

_Looking down, Nao realized that she was still wearing the last thing her parents gave her…The small bracelet with three charms on it; a teddy bear, an angel, and a miniature kunai. The teddy bear represented her youth, the angel, how precious she was to her family, and the kunai was how she was to become a great ninja one day. Though it was a little big for her wrist, she loved it all the same. _

_When she looked back up, the boy was still sobbing, but it was getting more agonized each second. Suddenly, the sand warped around him wildly, making her step back in fear. It stopped almost as soon as it had started, but this time, the boy spoke…but not in the childish voice he normally used. This time, it was full of hate, and malice._

"_I'm all alone…I'm all that matters…" the red haired boy stated. _

_Nao tried to walk towards him about to protest, but the sand turned on her and burst out, and as close to the edge she was, she fell, screaming. Reaching out for something, anything, to grab onto, and her bracelet fell from her wrist, tinkling softly as it fell to the ground._

_Nao's child body hit the ground with a loud and almost sickening thud._

"_NAO!" a woman's voice screamed in terror. "OH MY GOD, NAO, ARE YOU OKAY? NAO, SPEAK TO ME, PLEASE…WAKE UP NAO!" _

_Whilst the woman was screaming frantically, the sand picked up a small silver bracelet, bringing it to the boy. It made a small jingling sound and everything faded out quickly with the woman still saying Nao's name…But softer now, like the pain was beginning to turn to numbness. _

"_Nao…Nao…please…please wake up…please wake up Nao…"_


	2. Chapter 2

"Nao…Nao…Please wake up Nao…Today is the big exam…You don't want to be late, do you?" a girl's voice said. The girl known as Nao turned in her sleep. _Wow…what a dream…it's still happening…Wait, what? Exam?_

"Exam?" the girl mumbled.

"Yes…Exam! Now hurry up Nao!" another female voice said. Suddenly, covers were thrown off of her, giving the slight chill before warming again.

"God Sakura…I'm awake already…" the girl known as Nao said, sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of her tired blue eyes.

When she opened them, a pink haired girl was right up in her face. The instant reaction was defensively punching Sakura away, which she did…And then immediately regretted doing it. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?" Sakura yelled.

_Here we go again…she got me up extra early, and puts her face right up in mine…and what does she expect…__**NOT**__ to get hit…but you don't do that with me!_ Nao groaned to herself.

Nao Hasegawa got up and walked over to her dresser to pull out a pair of grey shorts along with a black skirt, and a black shirt that looked a lot like her friend TenTen's but with color differences and the shoulders were different. For instance, the shoulders were grey and the main part was black. She also grabbed clean underwear, her favorite navy blue gloves with metal protectors on the back, and a pair of dark purple colored comfortable shoes. Nao then proceeded towards the area she kept her laundry, specifically, her towels, grabbed one, and went into the bathroom, closing the door after her.

"Finally…Luckily, the bathroom door is sound proof…to an extent, thanks to the third Lord Hokage. Man, Sakura sure is loud," Nao thought to herself once she was in the bathroom. A knock came from the door and the sound of her other friend, TenTen's voice came through.

"Since you are already awake, we'll leave now…Please make sure you eat a good breakfast. My dad made sure that you have stuff to eat all the time, so don't waste his efforts, okay?" TenTen told her.

"Okay, will do TenTen…Thanks again, I was training all night long, so I knew I needed something to help me get up and, well…Fortunately for me, Sakura is really loud and annoying." Nao and TenTen both laughed at this.

TenTen's father, after kindly being asked to by the third Lord Hokage, and with the help of Kiba Inuzuka's sister, helped Nao get along when she began to run out of groceries, and money. Since they were already helping her with groceries, TenTen figured helping Nao get up early enough was another kind deed, since the two got along so well.

"I'll see you later, TenTen…Try not to let Sakura take her grumpiness out on Naruto this morning, okay? Please TenTen, for your friend?" Nao pleaded.

"I already do things for my friend…I don't know…" TenTen teased.

"Please? With weapon scrolls on top?" Again, the two laughed at this, and TenTen decided to give in.

"All right, I'll try…Can't make any promises though, you know Sakura…Stubborn as a mule," Nao could then hear the sound of footsteps leaving and a door opening, then closing softly.

_I'm glad I have friends like Sakura and TenTen._ Nao thought to herself before undressing and turning on the faucet to take a shower.

After she turned on the faucet, she also then turned on her CD player, pushing play on the disc she had in. The song Promise of a Lifetime by Kutless began to play.

Taking her pajamas off, she stepped into the shower as it began the introduction. Grabbing her Wild Cherry Blossom shampoo, she began to sing along.

_I have fallen to my kneesAs I sing a lullaby of painI'm feeling broken in my melodyAs I sing to help the tears go away_

_Then I remember the pledge you made to me _

Nao poured the shampoo into her hand and began to massage her head, gently working it into a good lather. The warm water felt good on her sore and aching back as she did so.

_I know you're always there_

_To hear my every prayer_

_Inside I'm clinging to the promise of a lifetime_

_I hear the words you say_

_To never walk away from you and leave behind_

_The promise of a lifetime_

She rinsed and put some conditioner in her palm, massaging it too into her hair gently, not even listening to the song anymore. Remembering the years she'd been in the leaf village, how Naruto Uzumaki helped her realize how important things like friends are…She was described as an empty shell when she had first gotten there. She wouldn't speak to anyone, and when she did, it was very rare, and she never spoke up, always feeling unwanted. Naruto was her first friend, and he was always faking smiles to hide his pain just like she did. The ANBU did a background check or memory search and all she could remember was wandering the desert on the border of the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind. The hidden sand had no files on the girl whatsoever and neither did the hidden leaf. Being the kind man he was, the Third Lord Hokage allowed Nao to become a citizen of his village instead of feeding her to the Sand, which he later explained treated people they didn't know unkindly.

_Why did you go through the trouble of having a program put in place for me, old man? I was the stray cat that normally nobody in their right minds would adopt into their homes, but you…You gave me a place to stay, people to care about me…Why?_

Whenever Nao tried remembering her past, her head began to throb tremendously. And she couldn't even explain why.

_I think I remember hearing the Medical Corp people saying it looked as if I hit my head._

After being picked up by an ANBU squad and taken to the hospital, Nao slept for four days straight. And no wonder…as a child, Nao walked nonstop through the desert, getting lost easily, but luckily reaching the border and being picked up after someone had stated they had found a child wandering aimlessly through the desert. It was to be considered a rescue mission. At times, she did remember blood, a man's face, a snake-like man's eyes, and sand…Lots and lots of sand.

The song ended and she rinsed her hair of the conditioner, turning off the shower when she was done. Nao blindly grabbed for the head towel hung on the top rack and hung her head low, letting the wet locks of chocolate brown hang down, wrapping it in the towel comfortably. She stepped out of the shower, grabbing the body towel on the lower rack, wrapping that towel around her body, and went to the mirror. It had collected a great deal of steam, preventing her from seeing herself, so with the hand that wasn't holding her towel in place, Nao cleared it with a clean washcloth.

Her eyes were only slightly ringed in a highly unnoticeable purple, due to lack of sleep at nights.

_Damn nightmares…they're gonna kill my complexion,_ Nao thought irritably, even though she wasn't really interested in her looks.

Hell, she already had the most popular boy in the academy hounding after her, and she didn't really like the guy. She didn't see anything wrong with him, but he was too…Emotionally deprived. All he ever did was glare at everyone.

Finishing drying her hair quickly, Nao brushed the tangled dark chocolate brown locks the best she could, since it fell to her mid-back in length. _Almost as long as Neji's_, Nao remarked to herself, smiling a little. Many times Nao had thought about dying her hair a different color, but it just never happened. She got dressed, putting on her favorite never been stained outfit, ready for the exams that she would be taking to become a full fledged shinobi of the leaf village.

Nao grabbed the dog shaped moneybag that Naruto had bought her from a festival a few years ago, smiling as she put her shoes on. She had made friends so quickly after having been in the care of Kakashi Hatake for a little while. At first, she had nightmares about what had happened to her when she was little, and the Hokage had put her in dream therapy…something unheard of, but existed anyway. People complained about screams coming from where she lived for weeks, and her nightmares eventually ceased being so traumatizing. Nao knew that as long as there were people like Kakashi and the Third Hokage, she was protected, cared for just like anybody else. Which is why she knew what loneliness Naruto had suffered. He always smiled, even when he was feeling upset, he would smile on the outside to assure people that he was okay.

Stepping outside, she was greeted by none other than Kiba Inuzuka and his dog Akamaru. She smiled, locking the door behind her. Turning to face him, Nao smiled and patted Akamaru's head lightly, scratching behind his ears, giggling slightly when he leaned into her hand.

"Good morning Kiba, good morning Akamaru," Nao said, greeting the boy and his dog. "Ready for the exams today?"

"You bet we are! Right, Akamaru?" Kiba said. Akamaru barked in response. This only made Nao laugh at the cute little puppy.

Kiba and his dog Akamaru always had come to see Nao in the mornings. It had become routine to meet her at the door and then walk her to the academy. Ever since they were little, Nao was curious as to how Kiba saw her. She liked him as a friend but did he see her in the same way? Nao pushed the thoughts from her mind, concentrating only on the task of passing her exams. Kiba and Nao talked about various things on the way to the academy, from Hinata's obvious liking of Naruto, Sakura and Ino's pointless crush on Sasuke Uchiha, to the different but all the same useful dogs of the Inuzuka clan. The young dog lover had learned over the years not to bring about the topic of Nao's past…That is, unless she spoke about it first. The only times Nao had spoken about her past was when she saw a boy at least 7 years older than her, claiming he looked like her, and when she had mastered her chakra and even used a unique and "one of a kind" jutsu, wondering if her family could use the same jutsu.

When they got to the academy, Kiba walked with Nao to the classroom, and even to their seats. It made Nao blush to know that she sat right next to Kiba, who, in her opinion, was pretty cute, and when it came to manners, he always showed them around her, sticking up for her whenever the other kids would laugh at her highly developed abilities, and her lack of understanding of them. One time, it even went so far as to making fun of her because she didn't have a family like the rest of them. She would cry a lot, and that made kids laugh even more because she was an outcast. _"Why don't you get lost, you stupid cry-baby! Go home to your MOM AND DAD! OH WAIT, YOU DON'T HAVE THEM!" _and chantings of _"Nao misses her family!"_

Kids were cruel. Anything they didn't understand, they made fun of. Except the Uchiha clan. Ever since the day she turned 9, Sasuke Uchiha had flirted with her mercilessly, but in his own way. At first, she was flattered, but when he started stalking her, she couldn't take it. He didn't talk to anyone much after his family was slaughtered by his own older brother, but he made a point of showing how much he liked her by teasing the crap out of her, and she didn't like it. Which, when she thought about it, explained why Kiba didn't like Sasuke. He had literally called Sasuke an asshole one time after Sasuke had cornered her and Kiba came to the rescue, threatening to sick his mom's dog on him…Nao had thought it funny at the time because Sasuke backed off, though he said he wouldn't give up and crap like that. And it was then she realized: Kiba Inuzuka might have a really protective yet hidden crush on Nao. And that meant Nao had a problem, because sometimes when she looked at Kiba, instead of his lovely brown spiked hair, she would see dark red spiked hair, and instead of his , and she couldn't explain why.

Nao knew that when it was her turn to do the transformation jutsu, there wouldn't be any problems, since she was always training by herself. The instructor came in and announced that the exams were today, which everyone knew, but he had to say it, 'cause it was part of his job.

"Awwww, man!" some students whined.

"Why, Iruka-sensei?" others complained.

There were only a few that were pumped for the exams. Kiba and Nao were included in the bunch. _YES!_ Nao cheered to herself mentally. Kiba turned to Nao as the exam papers were being passed out.

"Good luck to you, Nao," Kiba told her.

"Same to you, dog-boy," Nao replied, winking to him playfully.

_I know I can do this, I know I can! I studied with Sakura, and she studies a lot….when she's not hounding after Sasuke like a love-sick puppy!_ Nao giggled quietly to herself at the dog-related comment.

"You may now start your exams! Good Luck!" Iruka-sensei.

Nao scooted her chair away from Kiba a few inches to ensure that she wouldn't be accused of cheating, nor would Kiba. She then began her exam, taking her time on each question to eliminate the wrong answers and making sure she did the work right.

An hour later, she finished her exam, put her name on it, and took it down to Iruka-sensei, passing Naruto's seat purposefully to put her hand on his back, sliding it off as she continued to walk past, but the gesture of reassuring him was still there.

"Here you go, Iruka-sensei," Nao said, handing her paper to the teacher.

She was thrilled! Nao was sure that she had succeeded in passing the first part of the exams. Going back up the isle, Nao grabbed her stuff, and went back down the isle. Instead of just walking past Naruto like she did before, she paused and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Don't sweat it Naruto…just calm down, take your time, and think everything through. I'm sure you'll do fine. This was the easy part," she whispered to him.

Smiling at him as she left, Nao headed out of the classroom. She was absolutely sure that she saw Sakura and Ino glare at her for getting done first. Nao just stuck her tongue out in response and left.

When she got outside, she went to the tree with the swing and sat down against the tree.

_Since I have nothing better to do, I might as well read,_ Nao thought to herself, opening her bag and pulling out the book she had been reading lately. It was the history of the Hidden Leaf Village. She opened the book to where she left off and began to read. What she didn't expect, however, was Sakura and Ino exiting the academy not 20 minutes later. She looked up, feeling their chakra patterns, closed her book, putting it in her bag, and stood up to greet them.

"Is there a problem, ladies? You wouldn't happen to be envious that I finished before you, would you?" She taunted a little…Nao knew exactly what the two girls' tempers were like.

"No! Why would you think that?" Ino asked in a rather defensive tone.

"Yeah! We were just coming out to tell you to stay away from Sasuke! We saw the way he was looking at you this morning!" Sakura chimed in.

Nao rolled her eyes and sighed. When would this ever end? Just because she had some how managed to catch Sasuke Uchiha's interest did NOT mean that _SHE_ was interested in _HIM!_ The nerve of those two! Always falsely accusing others of stuff, especially Nao. What did she ever do to them? Well, besides pulling a few pranks on them when Nao was new in town. She still had nightmares about things, but she couldn't ever remember them in the morning. Nao never remembered how or why she was found outside of the Leaf.

"Listen, I don't even **like** Sasuke…Never have, never will. He just creeps me out too much. He hardly speaks, and when he does, all he talks about is revenge for his family. I don't want a masochist for a boyfriend…I'd rather go out with Rock Lee before I ever even CONSIDERED going out with Sasuke!" Nao fumed, saying the Uchiha boy's name like it was soured milk.

It left the same bad taste in her mouth. She had a feeling he had something coming to him, but she just didn't know what. All Nao really knew was that the boy creeped her out, end of story. When Kiba finally came out, grinning like an idiot, she said a short goodbye to the girls, and a nice good boy to Kiba and Akamaru. That earned her a playful punch to her shoulder, and in return, she socked him good back, and in the same place, but on the other arm. They both laughed while Akamaru barked happily at the playful scene.


End file.
